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February 2019 Volume 9, No. 2
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Hello Everyone
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February 1st marked the halfway point between Winter and Spring. So - Congratulations! We've made it this far. However, as we have seen in the past few years, late winter can be a time of dangerous windstorms, icy conditions, and woody plant damage. Let's hope for a milder transition into spring this year.
We have a number of changes to announce for 2019. Most importantly, I will be entering semi-retirement this gardening season. This means I will be training various staff members to absorb the accumulated knowledge I can share about each property. So there may be someone shadowing me on consultations and design meetings.
But this isn't the end! I plan to stick around to help ease both my transition and yours-and to enjoy the coming of spring. As usual, we will begin to make our rounds in late March or early April when the snow disappears.
Our spring letter will be mailed in a few weeks. We will include more details there about staffing and the 10% prepayment discount on Plant Health Care contracts.
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Plant Pick: Plants with Interesting Bark in Winter
Stuck indoors a lot in winter? Let's plant something interesting to view from your windows!
Most broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons curl their leave
s tightly in the cold for self-preservation. This isn't that attractive over time. Why not try something different? Textured bark might be one solution.
One of my favorite native woodland plants is the Moosewood, often called striped maple.
Acer pensylvanicum is a small to medium understory tree with green stems and trunks, highlighted with prominent silver or white stipes, especially in winter. This change in bark color is the plant's method of photosynthesis during the shortest days of the year. In spring, large dark green leaves appear and the stems turn lighter in color. The Moosewood's leaves turn a brilliant yellow in the fall.
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Moosewood
Acer pensylvanicum
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Nurseries may also stock the European and Asian counterparts to our North American striped maple and are called snakebark maples. Look for 'Mozart' with its
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Acer griseum
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white striped branches that turn red in winter. 'Winter Gold' has yellow-green twigs in summer that transform to bright orange-gold in winter. I grow
Acer tegmentosum 'Joe Witt' with white blushed stems.
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Acer tegmentosum 'Joe Witt'
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Site these plants in dappled shade with even moisture and watch them take off!
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Indoor Plant Shows on the Horizon
One of my favorite winter rituals is a visit to an indoor plant show. In our area, we are blessed with plentiful attractions that make perfect day trips.
The Isabell
a S
tewart
Gardner Museum's courtyard in Boston's Fenway is a welc
ome haven on a winter day.
Greenhouses provide tender orchids, ferns, blooming jade plants, and the first bulbs of spring arranged artfully around the museum's collection of art and
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Phalaenopsis Orchid |
antiquities.
Displays change theme monthly. On my January visit this year, white hellebores were blooming in the outer courtyard garden beneath more trees with interesting bark: Paperbark Maple and Stewartia! See
www.gardnermuseum.org for hours and admission fees.
College greenhouses in the Pioneer Valley put on free annual bulb shows in early March. I make a pilgrimage each year to both Smith and Mt. Holyoke Colleges to savor the color and variety of bulbs forced by students. The plants are carefully arranged on traditional show benches for the public. This year's dates are March 2-17, 10 am - 4 pm daily. Smith only has extended hours until 8 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Wellesley College Greenhouses are closed for renovation, and we look forward to seeing their reincarnation in the future.
Tower Hill Botanic Garden always has a beautiful display of tropical trees and flowers in its two indoor spaces, the Orangerie and the Limonaia. See
www.towerhillbg.org to plan your visit.
Everyone will enjoy an outing to the Winter Farmer's Market at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland. On Saturday mornings from 10 am - 2 pm the empty greenhouse space is filled with farmers, artisans and food to fill your larders and lift your spirits. The market runs weekly through March 16. See
www.russellsgardencenter.com for more information.
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| Paper bark maple, Acer griseum, and heathers |
And the Boston Spring Flower Show is right around the corner, March 13-17, at the Seaport World Trade Center. This long-standing tradition, aimed to inspire and motivate gardeners, has something for everyone, including children! See
www.bostonflowershow.com for tickets and the schedule of events.
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More on Birds in the Garden - Red birds and Red berries
Following up on last month's article about creating a winter garden for birds, a friend forwarded me an article about the link between the northward spread of red birds (namely, robins and cardinals) who dine on red berries. Evidently the red berries help keep the red pigment in feathers for these birds.
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Cardinals at winter feeder
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When growing up, most of us never saw a robin or a cardinal in winter. Those birds used to migrate south in the fall and stay there until mid March, returning to our area as a harbinger of spring. Today, however, robins and cardinals are plentiful at our feeders and in our yards. The robins regularly visit my winterberry shrubs in February to tank up on the red berries that have been through several freezing and thawing cycles and are now more palatable. And cardinals lurk at woods edge all year long.
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Female cardinal
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What happened?
We now have warmer and longer falls, have experienced an increase in the global warming pattern, and have the ready availability of red berries from invasive plants such as Oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry, and burning bush (not only my native winterberry). These berries pass through a bird's digestive system with the seeds intact, ready to germinate where the bird left them. Thus, more habitat and food supply is created, and the birds do not need to migrate south. However, studies by the entomologist and author Doug Tallamy and others show that the invasive plants do not provide nutritious food for the birds but simply "junk food."
Another drawback is that the invasive plants can form a combined dense thicket three to nine feet tall. Birds, of course, like such habitat as it protects them from predators. Males especially will remain here in order to be close to claim spring breeding territory early.
What can you do? Replace any invasive shrubs lurking around your property with natives that bear nutritious fruit for birds in winter, such as Viburnum, Winterberry, and (carefully placed) Sumac. It is important to have a plan to replant in place before an outright removal project gets underway. Disturbed soil left bare exposes the invasive seed bank to light and quick germination. Many times, the removal/replanting activity can be phased in over time.
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Viburnum trilobum, Cranberry Viburnum
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Contact Priscilla at [email protected] to arrange an appointment to discuss options for your property.
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Design and Plan Your Garden Now!
We are available this winter to help you with your garden design and renovation needs. No need to wait until April. We like to plan ahead and get the design and planning stages finished before the snow melts. Then you can be among the first on our list for a spring project installation.
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What do Gardeners do in Winter - Part II
Reese
restored a vintage fan - see photos of his handiwork!
Lisa
is still RVing with her husband and is in Florida for the winter. Good news - she is returning to our crew as a part-time Crew Supervisor in May!
Deanna
has decided to start her home permaculture garden by purchasing trees and berry bushes from Fedco. They will arrive in April bare root, and she will plant everything then: 'Honeycrisp' Apple tree, two types of peaches, high and low bush blueberries, a Mulberry and Walnut tree, Dawn Redwoods and Linden trees. At the office, she is excited that PBOG is expanding in so many ways and is happy to be a integral support system for these changes.
Al
has been ice fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee and enjoying time with his family.
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Priscilla's To-Do List for late February/early March
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-Finalize seed orders if you plan to start annuals or vegetables from seed
-Onions, leeks, and pansies can be started from seed indoors now
-Slowly increase watering your houseplants and begin a diluted liquid fertilizer regimen every other week
-Continue to use Safe Paws ice melt on your walkways as this product is not harmful to your pets or your plants
-Prune fruit trees on days with temperatures above freezing when there is a lack of deep snow or ice to permit safe access to the trees
-Prune other deciduous plants while dormant if conditions permit - do not pull branches out of the snow as they are very brittle in the cold
-Catch up on reading garden books and magazines, looking for appealing plants and ideas for 2019 improvements
-Schedule a design consultation with Priscilla
-Get out for a winter walk and breathe deeply to enjoy the benefits of good physical exercise
We look forward to the return of spring and to meeting with you now to plan the specifics for your property this year. Perhaps we will run into each other at a winter plant show?
Priscilla and the PBOG Crew
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© Copyright 2011 Pumpkin Brook Organic Gardening, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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